Anglicare receives the equivalent of 1 million t-shirts every month - and they want more

14th Mar 2019

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If anyone has seen the impact of Marie Kondo and the January declutter craze it’s our local charities, whose donation bins and sorting centres have been overflowing for weeks. But this is an excellent thing, says Ian Moore, the head of Anglicare’s Retail Stores.

“For us it’s just wonderful because it means we’re blessed with more donations to work with,” he says.

With plans to open a number of new stores in the coming years, Mr Moore recognises that donations need to increase over time.

“It’s a challenge to sort, but a positive to get it, and it means we have stock for stores. This is an opportunity to help the environment by donating and also providing clothes to those who can’t afford them. It’s a huge benefit all around.”

"Our op shops are an extension of our mission"

Anglicare receives around 180 tonnes of donations each month through its 237 donation bins, in 93 church locations across Sydney and the Illawarra. That’s equivalent to more than one million T-shirts, but Anglicare obviously welcomes a variety of clothing, shoes and bric-a-brac.

“We’re looking for clothing that someone would happy to wear, nothing torn or ripped or faded,” Mr Moore says. “Clothing is the main thing we focus on.”

Sadly, Anglicare still receive a large number of items that are unable to be resold due to poor quality and condition.

“To put them in landfill costs us and it’s a problem for the environment,” he says. “There’s a big challenge around finding different ways to recycle and finding different organisations to partner with to prevent landfill. We’re exploring ways to minimise our impact on waste and landfill, which includes educating people around their donations.”

But for Anglicare, our donations mean its shops can continue to provide important care to local communities, including play a vital role in linking vulnerable people to a variety of services.

“Our op shops are an extension of our mission,” Mr Moore says. “I’ve seen our store managers spend time listening to hurting people. It wasn’t about making sales, it was about caring for those in the community.

“Store managers get to know so many people. There are so many repeat customers who come back and connect. It’s wonderful to have mission-minded people working for us.”

"It is about caring for those in the community"

He is grateful for the ways people support Anglicare’s stores by donating good quality items, by recommending Anglicare stores to others, and by shopping there themselves.